Government building seeks LEED certification (2/25/10)

A new government building on Harvest Lane could be certified as one of Williston’s “greenest” buildings, according to a local architectural firm.

Courtesy photoThe new U.S. government General Services Administration building on Harvest Lane, pictured above, will likely receive an environmental certification. The facility was designed by Colchester-based Wiemann Lamphere Architects.

Steve Roy, an architect with Colchester-based Wiemann Lamphere Architects, anticipates the office building will earn an environmental certification within the year.

Roy believes the design and implementation of the environmentally-sound building practices will continue in future projects across Vermont.

“What went into the design are things we should always be thinking about,” Roy said.

The U.S. government’s General Services Administration moved into the 27,000 square-foot space in January after it was completed late last year. When brought before the town in its early planning stages in April 2008, plans indicated staff from the United States Citizen and Immigration Services department might also work within the new building.

A government official could not be reached as of press deadline to confirm which departments work in the building.

There are a number of government offices within Williston, including a large workplace across from the new structure, as well as offices within the White Cap Business Park on Industrial Avenue.

Roy said the building should earn a silver certification for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, better known as LEED. The U.S. Green Building Council confirms structures as LEED certified.

Roy, along with architect Gary Lavigne, designed the building to save more than 25 percent in energy costs and use 42 percent less water than similar office complexes. Many of the materials used in construction came from local companies, Roy said. Williston-based DEW Construction spent much of 2009 constructing the government building.

In the original plans, the building was to include a large, glass etching of the Statue of Liberty at the front entrance.

“In the end, they decided not to put that up there after all,” Roy said.